Bank of America Lowers Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) to Neutral

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $82.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $78.00. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 5.89% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EQR. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.97.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $77.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.79.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.5% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.